Over the last 18 months, Smith pressed former U.S. military leaders and officials — including retired Gen. David Petraeus — about America's approach in Afghanistan, and sat down with U.S. soldiers and Marines who carried that approach out. He spoke with U.S. diplomats, among them former ambassador to Afghanistan Zalmay Khalilzad, who negotiated the 2020 deal with the Taliban to end the war. And he interviewed former Deputy National Security Advisor Lt. Gen Douglas Lute.
On the ground in Afghanistan, Smith met and asked tough questions of numerous Taliban officials, among them senior members of the powerful Haqqani clan and the governor of Helmand, Afghanistan's largest province. Smith also interviewed former high-ranking members of the Afghan government, the former commander of Afghanistan's special forces, and numerous Afghan civilians — including, in powerful split-screens, people he first met while reporting in Afghanistan years earlier and tracked down again now to see how their lives have changed.
"In previous reporting trips to Afghanistan," explains Smith, "the ongoing war prevented us from crossing battle lines. Now with the war over, we gained access to the Taliban that we couldn't have achieved before. It has now allowed us to trace the history of the conflict from both sides."
The result, from a team that also includes producer Brian Funck and co-producer Scott Anger, is a gripping and incisive account of how America's defeat in Afghanistan became inevitable — and the ongoing human cost.
Watch Part One of America and the Taliban tonight at 10/9c on PBS stations (check local listings) and on FRONTLINE's YouTube channel, or stream it starting at 7/6c at pbs.org/frontline and in the PBS App.
And stay tuned as this truly epic saga continues throughout April.
